Masters Men Marathon: Dante Capone, 60, Runs Away With It

• Dante Capone, age 60, wins in 2:24:18 (5:30/mi) — a commanding margin of nearly 22 minutes over 2nd place, and a double-win weekend after also taking 1st in the Men's 5K.
• Rick Nee made the biggest second-half move in the top five, climbing from 39th to 23rd among men on the 13.1M→Finish leg — the 15th-fastest closing split in the field — to lock up 4th in 2:49:07.
• Robert Nation (3rd, 2:47:07) and Jeremy Thorburn (2nd, 2:46:05) swapped positions in the back half: Nation ran the 23rd-fastest closing split to Thorburn's 27th, trimming a gap but not enough — Thorburn held on by 1:02.
• A Boston Qualifier race on a flat Sonoma County course — and the Masters Men delivered, with 11 of the top 20 finishing under 3:05.

Dante Capone arrived in Santa Rosa already carrying a win — he had claimed 1st in the Men's 5K earlier in the weekend — and then went out and made it a double. The 60-year-old from San Diego ran 5:30 per mile across 26.2 miles, winning the Masters Men field in 2:24:18 and sitting comfortably in the overall men's standings. He also posted the fastest closing half-split among all men on the 13.1M-to-Finish leg, meaning he didn't just lead — he finished strongest. That kind of performance across two races in one weekend is the headline of the entire Masters Men story.

Behind him, the battle for the podium had its own drama. Jeremy Thorburn (2:46:05) and Robert Nation (2:47:07) were separated by just 1:02 at the line, but Nation was actually the faster closer — his 23rd-fastest back-half split edged out Thorburn's 27th. Thorburn had built enough of a cushion in the first half to absorb Nation's charge and hold 2nd. Meanwhile, Rick Nee (4th, 2:49:07) was the most aggressive mover in the top five, surging from 39th to 23rd among men in the second half on the strength of the 15th-fastest closing split in the field. Alan Samuels (5th, 2:50:57) similarly moved up, going from 38th to 31st.

The depth across 344 finishers on this cool, clear morning in wine country was real. Mohammed Murunga (6th, 2:53:59), Will Mroz (7th, 2:54:42), and Christopher Kalima (8th, 2:58:41) all broke three hours, and a cluster of six runners — from Alvaro Perez (15th, 3:03:20) through Ryan Starck (17th, 3:03:31) — finished within 11 seconds of each other. On a flat, fast course designed for personal bests, the Masters Men made full use of it.